The Rally China (中国拉力赛) is the largest rallying event held in China.
The first event was run as the China Rally in 1997 in the province of Guangdong, as a replacement to the Hong Kong - Beijing Rally, and was an event on the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar in 1999. However it was replaced by the Cyprus Rally the following year.
From 2000 to 2015, it has been part of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), moving initially to Shaoguan, Guangdong province. "Force majeure because of government", according to the organisers, led to the cancellation of the event in 2003. The event moved for a single year to Huizhou, Guangdong in 2004 before reverting to Shaoguan.
From 2009 until 2015, the event was hosted in Longyou, Zhejiang province. The event returned to the WRC calendar in 2016 after moving to Huairou, Beijing, but was cancelled due to weather damage. China will continue to host a round of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in Zhangye, Gansu in 2016 too, while Longyou will continue to host a round of the Chinese Rally Championship.
List of previous winners
Rally China YearNameDatesWinnerCarRally Classification 1997 1st China Rally 11–13 July Colin McRae Subaru Impreza WRC 97 APRC 1998 2nd China Rally 2–4 October Colin McRae Subaru Impreza WRC 98 APRC 1999 3rd China Rally 17–19 September Didier Auriol Toyota Corolla WRC WRC 2000 4th 555 China Rally 7–9 September Peter 'Possum' Bourne Subaru Impreza WRX APRC 2001 5th Rally of China Shaoguan 20–22 October Nico Caldarola Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI APRC 2002 6th Rally of China Shaoguan 19–21 October Karamjit Singh Proton Pert APRC 2004 7th TCL China Rally Huizhou 22–24 October Katsuhiko Taguchi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII APRC 2005 8th China Rally Shaoguan 26–28 November Jussi Välimäki Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII APRC 2006 9th China Rally Shaoguan 24–26 November Cody Crocker Subaru Impreza WRX STi APRC 2007 10th China Rally Shaoguan 09-11 November Cody Crocker Subaru Impreza WRX STi APRC 2008 11th China Rally Shaoguan 08-9 November Cody Crocker Subaru Impreza WRX STi APRC 2009 12th China Rally 14–15 November Cody Crocker Subaru Impreza WRX STi APRC 2010 13th China Rally 6–7 November Yuya Sumiyama Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X APRC 2011 14th China Rally 4–6 November Alister McRae Proton Satria Neo S2000 APRC 2012 15th China Rally 26–28 October Alister McRae Proton Satria Neo S2000 APRC 2013 16th China Rally 2–3 November Esapekka Lappi Škoda Fabia S2000 APRC 2014 17th Rally China Longyou 7–9 November Chris Atkinson Volkswagen Golf SCRC APRC 2015 18th Rally China Longyou 30 October–1 November Pontus Tidemand Škoda Fabia R5 APRC 2016 19th Rally China Beijing8–11 SeptemberRally cancelledWRC201820th Rally China Longyou20-21 October Karl KruudaVolkswagen Golf SCRCAPRC201921st China Rally Longyou26-27 October Lin De-weiSubaru XVAPRC202022nd China Rally Longyou16-18 OctoberRally cancelledAPRC202323rd China Rally Longyou20-22 September Xu JunŠkoda Fabia R5APRC202424th China Rally Longyou26-29 October Lin De-weiHyundai i20 N R5APRC
References